Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1492675
M A R C H 2 0 2 3 6 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he Penn State women's ice hockey team never had much luck against Syracuse. Since launching their varsity program in 2012, the Nittany Lions hadn't taken a season series from the Orange, and even that hard, cold realization didn't entirely do justice to the lopsided his- tory of the teams' border rivalry. The Syracuse program had been established in 2008, and its four-year head start over the Lions had translated into just five Penn State victories in 43 matchups heading into the 2022-23 season. Despite the team's frequent struggles, though, head coach Jeff Kampersal saw a path to victory when he led Penn State to Syracuse for a two-game series Feb. 3-4. The Nittany Lions needed to give their junior goalie, Josie Bothun, a clear view of the puck, while denying Syracuse net- minder Arielle DeSmet the same. "We want to take away time and space as much as possible," Kampersal said. "Syracuse likes traffic in front, so [we'll be] trying to clear bodies out in front of Josie and trying to create traffic in front of DeSmet, trying to make her life dif- ficult." The Nittany Lions did that and more. In Game 1, they scored on 6 of their 8 first-period shots en route to a 7-0 win. The following night, they outshot the hosts 31-18 and won 4-1 to complete the sweep. Kampersal had reason to feel confi- dent heading into the weekend. The Li- ons had already recorded two wins over the Orange in December, sweeping them by a combined score of 15-3 at Pegula Ice Arena. After never winning a season series previously, the Lions won all four games against Syracuse this year, with only one decided by fewer than 4 goals. It's been that kind of year for Penn State. Heading into their final series of the regular season, a two-game set at the Rochester Institute of Technology Feb. 17-18, the Nittany Lions had al- ready won more games than in any of their 10 previous campaigns, going 22- 8-2 overall. They hadn't lost since Nov. 25 when they fell 5-1 to third-ranked Minnesota at the Henderson Collegiate Hockey Showcase in Las Vegas, and they were 12-1-1 in the College Hockey America conference, a record that as- sured them of the top seed and hosting rights when the tourney begins Feb. 24 with a best-of-three semifinal series. In five of their six seasons under Kampersal, the Nittany Lions have im- proved their record from the year be- fore. This year's team has been his best, excelling on both ends of the ice. Through 32 games, the Lions were eighth nationally in scoring with an average of 3.56 goals per game. Junior forward Kiara Zanon was leading the country with 23 goals, while freshman forward Tessa Janecke was tied for 10th with 18. Defensively, Penn State was 14th na- tionally, with opponents averaging just OLYMPIC SPORTS Junior goalie Josie Bothun was leading the College Hockey America conference with a 1.93 goals-against average head- ing into the final weekend of the regular season. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS Breaking The Ice PSU eyes the College Hockey America tourney after roaring to a regular-season title M A T T H E R B | M A T T . H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M